"So... why do you think Chrom would be here?"

Oreilia's index remained on the Mountains of Biolra. "I was thinking about it... all this time." Ozen sighed. "And I remember something Chrom once told me."

"Well, come on now with it?"

"Are you guys aware that Chrom is from Sei'O?"

"ehhhhh????"

There was a collective look of shock and confusion on the faces of everyone there. Chrom... the leader of the mages division in Baerim... was a man from Sei'O? This was surely a shocking surge of development, but it did not truly answer the question they had all posed.

"A long time ago... Chrom was exiled from the Sei'O. I'm not too familiar with your kings and histories... but back then, you all had a king who was obsessed with inscription magic. He was rumored to have had an entire army of golems, further bulking the forces of Sei'O's military."

"Ah, king Vixernex. If he's from an era like that. I'm assuming that Chrom is at least 70 years of age then no? It should be no problem taking down an old man."

Ineiru shook her head at Oreilia's statement. "Unlikely. Magic is much different than martial arts. While one's ability wanes in physical capabilities, with magic, they can only exponentially increase in skill with time."

Zephise had about this dumbfounded look at this statement, as if he had just been revealed details that were forbidden for the common man. He quickly began etching it down into his notebook.

Ozen waited patiently before continuing with his explanation. "That time, he was exiled from Sei'O due to his research in necromancy. As you all know, Necromancy is forbidden amongst all nations."

Rel sighed frustratingly and tilted his head. "I'm sorry. Quit with all ye jargon. The hells a fancy word like nechromancy doing coming out of your mouth." His agitation only grew a bit more seeing the stifled snickers that Oreilia struggled to keep in. "I knew Grey boys were dumb, but not this badly."

This one actually struck a nerve with him. He hadn't heard that one before used before. Seems she had just come up with that one the night before. Regardless, Rel chose to ignore her. After-all, it would be terrible for him to accidentally strike her and kill the woman he had just ended up saving earlier. This time surprisingly, it was Zephise who answered his question, flipping through several pages of the notebook he had been writing. "Necromancy: It's the usage of dead bodies by reviving them and adding synopsis to the brain. It usually results in a body that is not truly living, but remembers most of its abilities and muscle memory. It's considered one of the top 3 forbidden practices. Along with Creation Magic, and Time Magic."

Aren smiled at the explanation. It seems that Zephise truly had a knack for studying things. His teachings were never missed at all. This was quite a stark contrast from how he was when he first came to Essen-Sei'O. He recalled the time the boy came over. It was just three months after his. When Lady Amai had asked him what his name was, he couldn't even remember it. In fact, the young boy had a habit of forgetting everything that he was ever told. Got lost constantly around the city, forgot who his peers were, where he was, or even the year. Yet, as you look at him now, it was almost impossible to see that same figure standing before them.

"Yes... and with his exile, the rumors and development of the golem plan had entirely come to a stand-still. We..- erm, Baerim had recognized this and eventually recruited Chrom from his isolation. At least, that's what I know of the official story." His gaze had downcast. "I had assumed these were all just rumors... everyone did. After-all, this is our teacher, Chrom. The best magician to have situated himself in Baerim. This-.... this was all false. I see that now. This is evidence enough. I should have known... even back then.. I should have known."

"Back then? Is there something else that leads you to your conclusion? We need to hear everything." Oreilia demanded.

Ozen sighed and gripped his hands onto his head. "I didn't want to believe it. I really didn't." He sighed and placed both hands on the table after calming himself. "13 years ago, members of the promising magicians unit began disappearing one by one. A total of 46 people had gone missing. All of them had been linked to the training unit. Ultimately... our teacher Nero was blamed for the disappearances. Chrom was placed as head of the unit after. Rumors had spread around several times that it was Chrom... that man... the stories that were circulated were supposed to be just that... rumors."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"If the stories are to be believed then it would mean that the one who oversaw the golem operation. It also stands true that he was the one behind the necromancy studies... and everything was true."

"Then why would Biolra mountain ranges be important."

Grotto, who was largely silent up until now had finally spoken up. He seemed disinterested in the whole conversation and procedure. "Well, its not like I need to be here since I am definitely not participating in a battle with you freaks." He gave a specifically special stare at Oreilia when he said that. "But, I suppose me bein here does have its merits. For instance, tell ya ta get to the point."

There was an internal dread felt deep within Ozen's heart. Though he was kind, he found the plague children and even the Sei'ens were much too weird. First the lack of education in them, and the tendancy for them to become aggravated. He felt like he was walking on egg shells here. "T-the Biolra Mountain Ranges are-"

"They're the highest source of income within Sei'O." Almost like clockwork, he was yet again interrupted. This time, by the cute magician girl that stood opposite of him. "The Biolra Mountains... from what King Veilix and Lord Galtz told me, it was definitely the purest source of Cores within the southern shores. No, in fact, the cores could probably rival the world in terms of its purity. Unlike most countries around the world, Sei'O had only a small supply of Cores. However, the power they hold and could naturally hold was much higher than the average threshold. Though the reason for the purity in the mountains were unknown, the Biolra mountains were probably 5x more potent than the cores of the other countries."

"So then... is he planning to mine the cores?"

Ozen shook his head. He could tell from just Ineiru's reaction alone, that she already surmised what the man was going to do. "No... He'll be utilizing the mountains themselves as the core... the entire range... while he controls all of its feed and activity. I don't know what exactly he hopes to achieve, but... at the very least, if he were to be at the Biolra mountains, harnessing that much energy and outputting it would take months. But for him, I'd say we only have a couple of weeks."

"Weeks??" Grotto exhaled. "Well, I'm just about done with this convo. You guys can talk amongst yourselves. No way I'm going up against an elite old man mage. Rel... when all of this is over. Come back. There's important information you gotta know."

Rel cocked an eyebrow at the suggestion, but Grotto simply waved his hand, signifying now isn't a good time. "You'll want to hear it... maybe when you get back. However... what you hear may be something you'd never imagine.... Not under 1,000 stars."

Rel's eyes opened up quickly upon that phrase being stated to him. He wanted to inquire more, but Grotto simply waved him off and walked away, leaving the unit to finish up their discussions. He didn't like being in the southern hall anyways. That was where they were meeting. In the most foul district of the city, yet the richest. Even being around these types of snobs annoyed him. The gazes and looks of disgust they gave him was something he could only mirror back to them. "When you touch a cockroach, you immediately go to wash your hands. Somewhere out there, I had once heard that when a cockroach touches you, it also runs away to clean itself. The feelings mutual."

Grotto was no plague child. However, for the plagued and the poor alike, they were always viewed with a type of perception as if they were less than. Grotto smiled a little bit seeing that Rel had been doing well. "At the very least no matter how acquainted one may become with the other, a human can never turn into a cockroach." Maybe he can tell him this secret after-all. The feeling Rel has towards those two were still the same, regardless of the status that Rel had attained. He began to wonder what this wonderchild, Ora was. Or perhaps was he truly a demon as the stories say? He shrugged and continued to walk on, ignoring the looks of everyone around him. It's only natural to disregard insects.

Ineiru cleared her throat. "What are our chances of defeating Chrom in battle?"

Ozen scratched his cheek nervously. "Zero."

Oreilia scoffed and exhaled from her nose. "Ah cmon. It should be fairly easy for me to handle him myself. I trained under Galtz after-all."

"Ehm... Oreilia, Chrom was from the golden age of Sei'O. He's nothing to be taken lightly." She shot daggers at the nervous petite magician. "Hows about you worry about your fancy spells, and I just worry about cutting him down."

In a surprising display of intelligence, Rel had raised his hands to speak. "hmm... I can't speak for how skilled this Chrom is, but if I may suggest, there was a tactic I had once used against the Silver Knight."

There was an ominous hush in the room the moment he had said this. "D-do... -you don't really mean th-"

Aren cut in. "The same exact one." He said to a bewildered Ozen. "Several months back, Rel, Lin, Alel and Ora had launched a retaliatory attack on the group. They all came back with there lives."

"Well... the plan was working well until the complications had come up. But that was due to a fact about my ability I had no business knowin off the bat."

"For instance..." Something changed within the room. And Ozen was immediately shocked by the turn of events. Everyone in his presence had immediately, without warning, or without a trace disappeared. No presence of magic was noted, nor was there any hint as to what was going on. He took a couple steps back surveying the room. "As you can see, he can no longer hear us. Nor can he actually even sense, detect, or smell us. We can be as loud as we want and nothing will alert him."

"I see... this... what's a plague child doing with a relic like this?"

"Y'know, this is a C-grade relic. Besides, Plague Children aren't born of other Plague Children. Our parents were normal."

"alright alright I see what ya mean. Ya gray boys certainly are-"

Before she could finish the statement, she was placed into the shroud while everyone else was expunged. Thus, noone could hear her at all. Before Ozen's eyes, everyone had returned in a blink. Minus one of course.

"Eh? You left Oreilia out there?"

"Did I? whoops, perhaps I forgot. Rel yawned. Ya' know, if I truly wanted, I could keep her in the shroud forever honestly. Imagine how much better ya life would be Ineiru, you wouldn't have to hear that babbling on and on."

Ineiru nervously glanced back at the spot where Oreilia was and back at Rel. "u-uhm.. n-no, that wouldn't be too nice."

Just then a punch had clocked Rel over the head and he immediately released Oreilia from the shroud. "Jeez, you punch like a nobleman." To Oreilia, perhaps this was a compliment. But from Rel's prospective, this was definitely an insult.

Ozen simply watched the spectacle, before slowly trying to usher everyones attention back to the topic at hand. "I- I see... so your ability allows one to exclude yourself and those around you from detection."

"Correct. "

"Then... perhaps we can work with this... let me think of something. We can depart in a couple hours. Ineiru, would you mind coming with me? You're the only one here who... erm... well, understands the workings of us Magicians."

Ineiru courtiously bowed and nodded, signifying she was willing, but also thanking him for the compliment.

Rel stretched. "Well, if we're just leaving in a couple hours, I might as well get some food first. Ineiru... we won't need to worry too much about the replenishment today. Its at least 2 to 3 days to the mountain ranges. At least, conserve some energy for when the battle's to come."

Ineiru nodded, before leaving off with the mage.